Training Camp Notebook: Team preps for Steelers, camp wraps up

RICHMOND, Va. – The three-week stay in Richmond has come to a close and the Redskins wrapped up their inaugural training camp in the commonwealth Friday.

Players, coaches and fans agree that this camp was a huge success all around. The players were forced to be around each other 24/7 and plenty of team bonding took place. Fans turned out by the thousands and the team loved the facilities.

“I thought it was as good as it possibly could be,” Mike Shanahan said. “You come to camp trying to get better as an organization, as a football team.”

“It was a great opportunity for us to bond, offense and defense forced to spend more time together,” London Fletcher said.

Fred Davis agrees.

“There was a little more unity between the guys, that’s what they wanted and they got it here.”

We will see how it translates into regular season play. But I think it’s a good start.

Griffin practice update

Friday was also the third day Robert Griffin III ran with the first team offense against the scout team defense. He had 12 snaps on Friday and completed six of eight passes.

He even had a zone read play, took off running for 2 yards after shaking a couple defenders. He ended the play with an exaggerated slide…the crowd went nuts.

Other quarterback notes:

Pat White did not have a good day, throwing four interceptions in practice.

Brandon Merriweather participated in his fourth straight day of practice, which is a good sign coming back from the ACL injury. He did not say whether or not he will play in the preseason.

The Monday night plan

Kirk Cousins will play the first half of the game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Mike Shanahan said. Rex Grossman and Pat White will also play.

Running back Chris Thompson said he is ready to play on Monday and will return kicks

Injury update

Brian Orakpo has a quad bruise but Mike Shanahan said he expects him to play on Monday night against the Steelers.

“Unless there’s a setback, but I don’t anticipate that at this time.”

Dante Stallworth will not play on Monday. He’s trying to get the hamstring ready to go and hopes to be ready for the game next week against the Bills.

Linebacker Roddrick Muckelroy still has a sore shoulder and is a long shot.

Cornerback Ryan Mouton is a long shot to play as well, as he is still dealing with a hamstring injury.

Offensive lineman Jacolby Ashworth is out.

Josh Wilson said that he is doing things each day to make sure he’s ready for the Eagles in week one of the regular season. He also said that he intends to get some reps in the preseason in order to be ready.

Final attendance

There is no doubt that the first training camp in Richmond was a success for the Redskins and the fans. The team announced that there were 10,512 fans in attendance on the final day, bringing the total over 17 days to 165,571.